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General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

 

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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
09:17:04am
I keep reading on this and other stamp sites about how stamp buyers will only pay X% of catalogue value; for example, dealers will buy collections for "10% of catalogue value" or an auction bidder will limit the maximum to 20% CV.

If this is the case, and Scott values are determined from realized sales data, it stand to reason that Scott CV should generally FALL each year, as people continue to purchase at a percentage of full value. But from Michael's reviews, the values seem to fluctuate and at times show marked increases each year.

So what do you think is the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? Are CV entirely arbitrary? Are they reliable only for "higher end" items that fetch many and high bids at major auction houses?

Peter
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06 Jul 2015
10:20:21am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

I think catalog value is merely a guideline. I like it the way is except for the 25 cent minimum value. It gives me a frame of reference for relative values. Frankly, I believe that except for the 25 cents valuations, if one takes into account the condition of the stamp being valued, and the condition upon which Scott bases its valuation, it is a good guide. Unfortunately, collectors (including sellers) look at a value of, say, $2.00 for an unused 1980 stamp and apply it to the one they are selling, when the one they are selling only has fine centering (or less) and is hinged (maybe very lightly, but hinged all the same). This is not valued at $2.00 by Scott (probably less than 50 cents factoring in its true condition).

Now, for the 25 cent valuation. This valuation groups the most common stamps with others which are not as common and are, in fact elusive for the collector. If Scott would designate the most common stamps with a realistic minimum (5 cents, for example), collectors would at least know why they can find hundreds of copies for one stamp in a series for next to nothing, but the next stamp in the same series is next to unobtainable, when both are valued at the 25 cent minimum.

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michael78651

06 Jul 2015
10:21:42am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Unless the catalog is published by a dealer who sells stamps, the catalog values have little meaning. If you buy from a Gibbons, Mystic, Kenmore, etc. -type catalog, that is the price you'll pay for the stamps. If you buy from a dealer discount ad, that's the price you'll pay.

Scott doesn't sell stamps, so their disclaimer is that the values stated in their catalogs are what one might "expect to pay" for a stamp in the stated condition for which the value is given. Many stamps (could we stretch it to say most?) are inferior to the condition Scott uses to value stamps. Therefore, substantial discounts are appropriate for the sale price.

I have stated this many times before. The perfect example that shows that catalog values have little meaning are exactly what you eluded to - collectors refuse to pay 100% catalog value for stamps. I would estimate that most collectors want to pay only from 40% to 60% of catalog value on average for a stamp. Of course some of those same collectors scream that dealers are thieves when they are only offered 10% to 20% of catalog value for their stamps when they want to sell them to a dealer. (That's another matter regarding those uneducated collectors.)

So, if collectors only pay 40% to 60% of catalog value for a stamp (high-end stamps excepted) then one would expect that each year values for stamps would go down 40% to 60% until most stamps are worthless. Well, how often has it been stated that most stamps hold no real monetary value? Plenty of times, and it is shown to be true by how collectors aren't willing to pay for them.

It all comes down to how badly does someone want to buy a particular stamp at a particular point in time.

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khj
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06 Jul 2015
10:23:20am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

"I keep reading on this and other stamp sites about how stamp buyers will only pay X% of catalogue value; for example, dealers will buy collections for "10% of catalogue value" or an auction bidder will limit the maximum to 20% CV."



Dealers buy significantly below catalog value because they have to make a decent profit in order to stay in business full time. For better material, they will definitely pay much more than 10%.

The Scott catalog prices are based on VF with no faults. In all honestly, the great majority of stamps being offered online do not meet that criteria, and the retail price drops like a rock (essentially exponential drop) with each lower grade and with each fault. Some rare stamps (quantities of a few hundred or less) that are in high demand tend to be less affected in price, and extremely rare stamps (such as the 1c magenta) still increase in price even though damage has increased over the decades.

As far as I know, the Scott catalog prices are roughly based on the average selling price of selected full-time dealers, with a little tweaking here and there. There are enough "Mystics" around so that average price is actually fairly close. The price is also based on the notion "I want it now". Obviously, if you are a patient buyer, you can get stamps for pennies on the dollar (sometimes, even for a penny Big Grin )

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khj
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06 Jul 2015
10:27:56am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Michael#####'s posted while I was typing. I agree with him.

I will add, in my opinion, the true value of a stamp is better defined by the dealer buy price, not the average selling price of a stamp. As far as I'm concerned, the true value of the stamp should not incorporate labor costs or profit, but that's exactly what catalog prices do include. It's not a beef with the catalogs. I'm just saying I look at the financial value of the stamp differently. The catalogs are trying to state retail value, rather than what the stamp is actually worth monetarily.

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michael78651

06 Jul 2015
10:42:58am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Yes, but you are looking for that stamp in a condition higher than what Scott values, so you should expect to pay more for it. The condition, and ensuing demand for the stamp in superior condition, makes it a high-end stamp.

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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
12:15:26pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

All thoughtful responses, thanks.

Kim said:

"The catalogs are trying to state retail value"



This was what I was wondering about; if the catalogs are stating retail value, albeit based on a select group of dealers and auction houses, if the dealers are not paying "full CV" for stamps (which is more than likely the case), then why don't we see CV decreasing?

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"TO ERR IS HUMAN; TO FORGIVE, CANINE."
michael78651

06 Jul 2015
12:30:56pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Catalog values are not based on dealer buying prices. They are loosely based on retail sales.

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khj
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06 Jul 2015
12:47:33pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Michael#####'s stated the key point. It's a retail price catalog, not a stamp value catalog, despite what they keep saying about increase/decrease in stamp values.

Full time dealers know how much it's really worth, and that's reflected in their buy price. So for general stamp collections, they typically offer 5%-10% of estimated catalog value. To me, that gives you an idea of how much the stamps are REALLY worth, rather than how much a full-time dealer thinks he can profit off the stamps.

That's a generalized statement. There are plenty of exceptions, whether specific stamps (the rarer or higher demand stamps) or specific areas (1950s-1980s PRC for example).

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rrraphy
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Retired Consultant APS#186030

06 Jul 2015
02:43:42pm

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re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Agree in general, except I strongly believe that the catalog price changes, year to year, are 100% made up, run by a software subroutine and some smart human tinkering to mask it. They are instituted only to induce more catalog sales of the newer (and relatively worthless catalogs...I say worthless because no one seems to collect the more recent stamps, except for one or a few countries...and for those, prices and facial values are identical (using latest exchange rates).
I look at refreshing my catalogs once every 5 years..it is good enough. What would really make sense is adding a new catalog yearly of the stamps issued in the latest period, and leave the base prices of older stamps unchanged for a bunch (5-10) years...but no catalog company will do that, until they are run out of business!
I once ran an analysis of prices over a 5 year time span (of Europa stamps, from Scott) by year, by cat #, and one can discern a clear pattern of how prices are manipulated and changed year by year. The subroutine is purposely complex to mask the fact that it is all computer generated. Occasionally they will re assess some countries or time era, but generally the price changes are worthless. (or as the kinder souls here would say, just a reference). To decide what you should probably pay for a stamp, just use any catalog, 5 years or earlier, and roughly cut listed Prices to 20 or 25% of their listed value. Also, do comparative shopping on bidstart or ebay, and voila.

For the more valuable and rarer stamps that actually increase in value, today's market only warrants purchases of stamps properly certified and guaranteed. It is a shame that so many are suckered on ebay to think they are finding rock bottom bargains, when they are really buying nothing more than "green stamps".
rrr...

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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
michael78651

06 Jul 2015
03:49:14pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Ralph, I think most of what you said is correct. I would just like to offer a little different take on a few of your points, and provide some of my findings that serve to support what you said.

There are people who collect the newer issues. Let's use Scott's definition of stamps issued after 1990. From what I have seen, more people are moving to the newer issues, because their collections have the earlier stamps that they can afford. Topicalists are big collectors of newer issues as well. It is not easy to find newer issues for most countries, The print quantities are very low, and postal administrations around the world are cutting back further on print volumes. A small, but growing demand for newer issues, coupled with low print volumes is driving the values up on newer issues. Of that I have little to no doubt.

Gibbons tends to not issue annual catalogs on many areas. They will wait until there are enough value changes and new issues (if not a dead collecting area) to warrant publication of a new volume. That way they ensure that people will buy them as opposed to simply putting out annual editions.

I agree with you 100%, and I believe that Scott rotates reviews of certain popular countries in order to proclaim with release of an annual catalog set that values were updated for a certain area. Part of the reason for this is that they don't have catalog editors like they used to, but also they have to justify publishing an annual catalog set and try to get people to buy them each year. At least Scott does issue a press release that states what has changed in each volume as it is released. Makes it easier to decide if the changes are worth the cost of buying a new set. Notice how many years it took Scott to complete the renumbering of the Portuguese Colonies Ceres issue. The 2015 edition was the last year for this.

Other than that, when I am updating my inventory spreadsheets I find quite often countries where values are increased or decreased mostly by a certain percentage. Also, Scott will say that they did a review of a certain country, then I find value changes galore up to a certain year, and then no more changes. Or, I'll find value changes throughout the postage section, but nothing in back-of-book. I n the next edition of the catalog, the value changes are often found to continue for those countries where the previous edition left off.

It has been suggested for years that Scott go to loose-leaf with its catalogs so that each year it can issue a supplement pack for each volume that updates pages with value changes, and adds new pages for the new issues. That would be nice, but I wonder how much they would charge.


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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
03:58:09pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

"It has been suggested for years that Scott go to loose-leaf with its catalogs so that each year it can issue a supplement pack for each volume that updates pages with value changes, and adds new pages for the new issues."



Scott should just jump into the late 20th Century (let alone the 21st) and go digital. Annual thick catalogues are not only a waste of money, but also a waste of resources.


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philb
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06 Jul 2015
09:19:26pm

Auctions
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

in 2005 one of our club members purchased the scott catalogs on disk and his wife bootlegged copies for all the members...they were not that popular(even for free) i prefer the paper edition but i don't believe i am going to purchase year sets of 6 anymore..like in my poorer days i will probably buy one book a year or so !

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michael78651

06 Jul 2015
09:28:53pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

You can save alot of money if you purchase a set that is out of date. Generally the set prices drop by as much as 50% for each year that the catalog set is out of date.

After the entire 2016 six volume set is released later this year, the price of the 2015 set should drop to around $300. The 2014 should drop to $150 to $200, and 2013 even lower than that. It's a good way to save money and update your catalogs if catalog value is secondary to identifying stamps.

Even if you're a seller, the 2015 catalog values are still in line with the 2016 for the most part, and so are the 2013 and 2014 catalog sets. Just read the Scott press releases for each of the 2016 volumes to find out where the major changes are in the 2016 catalogs compared to the 2015. If you want to know the changes between the 2013 and 2015, just check out my analysis of the 2015 catalogs.

With the price of the catalogs, and the lack of significant changes in values, it is getting so that it is only necessary to obtain a new catalog set every three years.

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philb
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06 Jul 2015
10:21:35pm

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re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

My 2012 scotts still work for me...i do not see myself jumping to 2015 at this point ! The number of Scott catalogs published each year must be a bigger secret than the Coca Cola receipe !

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"And every hair is measured like every grain of sand"
pre1940classics

06 Jul 2015
10:36:29pm
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

If you shop around, you can get many used stamps below 30% catalog, many of which are in fine to very fine condition. This is normal strategy. I only pay more if is an item I really want, such as to finish a set, or upgrade to a MNH copy which is VF or better. I still get most of the 25 cent items for under 10% catalog.

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

07 Jul 2015
03:34:46am
re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

" ... So what do you think is the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? ...."
I was sitting on my porch the other afternoon and saw an example of the "relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? " on the horizon.
To the East there were several enormous darkening thunderclouds being formed over Central Florida by the heat baking the asphalt streets of Orlando and the concrete and cobblestone walkways of Disney World rising and colliding with the cooler breezes drifting inland from the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico (Pronounced "Golf of Mexico" by native crackers) on the other side. Turning to the west there were rows of fluffy white Cumulus clouds out over the water drifting harmlessly away.
Between the two cloud formations I discovered " ...the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices ..."

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
        

 

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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
09:17:04am

I keep reading on this and other stamp sites about how stamp buyers will only pay X% of catalogue value; for example, dealers will buy collections for "10% of catalogue value" or an auction bidder will limit the maximum to 20% CV.

If this is the case, and Scott values are determined from realized sales data, it stand to reason that Scott CV should generally FALL each year, as people continue to purchase at a percentage of full value. But from Michael's reviews, the values seem to fluctuate and at times show marked increases each year.

So what do you think is the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? Are CV entirely arbitrary? Are they reliable only for "higher end" items that fetch many and high bids at major auction houses?

Peter

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"TO ERR IS HUMAN; TO FORGIVE, CANINE."

They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin
06 Jul 2015
10:20:21am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

I think catalog value is merely a guideline. I like it the way is except for the 25 cent minimum value. It gives me a frame of reference for relative values. Frankly, I believe that except for the 25 cents valuations, if one takes into account the condition of the stamp being valued, and the condition upon which Scott bases its valuation, it is a good guide. Unfortunately, collectors (including sellers) look at a value of, say, $2.00 for an unused 1980 stamp and apply it to the one they are selling, when the one they are selling only has fine centering (or less) and is hinged (maybe very lightly, but hinged all the same). This is not valued at $2.00 by Scott (probably less than 50 cents factoring in its true condition).

Now, for the 25 cent valuation. This valuation groups the most common stamps with others which are not as common and are, in fact elusive for the collector. If Scott would designate the most common stamps with a realistic minimum (5 cents, for example), collectors would at least know why they can find hundreds of copies for one stamp in a series for next to nothing, but the next stamp in the same series is next to unobtainable, when both are valued at the 25 cent minimum.

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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"

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michael78651

06 Jul 2015
10:21:42am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Unless the catalog is published by a dealer who sells stamps, the catalog values have little meaning. If you buy from a Gibbons, Mystic, Kenmore, etc. -type catalog, that is the price you'll pay for the stamps. If you buy from a dealer discount ad, that's the price you'll pay.

Scott doesn't sell stamps, so their disclaimer is that the values stated in their catalogs are what one might "expect to pay" for a stamp in the stated condition for which the value is given. Many stamps (could we stretch it to say most?) are inferior to the condition Scott uses to value stamps. Therefore, substantial discounts are appropriate for the sale price.

I have stated this many times before. The perfect example that shows that catalog values have little meaning are exactly what you eluded to - collectors refuse to pay 100% catalog value for stamps. I would estimate that most collectors want to pay only from 40% to 60% of catalog value on average for a stamp. Of course some of those same collectors scream that dealers are thieves when they are only offered 10% to 20% of catalog value for their stamps when they want to sell them to a dealer. (That's another matter regarding those uneducated collectors.)

So, if collectors only pay 40% to 60% of catalog value for a stamp (high-end stamps excepted) then one would expect that each year values for stamps would go down 40% to 60% until most stamps are worthless. Well, how often has it been stated that most stamps hold no real monetary value? Plenty of times, and it is shown to be true by how collectors aren't willing to pay for them.

It all comes down to how badly does someone want to buy a particular stamp at a particular point in time.

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khj

06 Jul 2015
10:23:20am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

"I keep reading on this and other stamp sites about how stamp buyers will only pay X% of catalogue value; for example, dealers will buy collections for "10% of catalogue value" or an auction bidder will limit the maximum to 20% CV."



Dealers buy significantly below catalog value because they have to make a decent profit in order to stay in business full time. For better material, they will definitely pay much more than 10%.

The Scott catalog prices are based on VF with no faults. In all honestly, the great majority of stamps being offered online do not meet that criteria, and the retail price drops like a rock (essentially exponential drop) with each lower grade and with each fault. Some rare stamps (quantities of a few hundred or less) that are in high demand tend to be less affected in price, and extremely rare stamps (such as the 1c magenta) still increase in price even though damage has increased over the decades.

As far as I know, the Scott catalog prices are roughly based on the average selling price of selected full-time dealers, with a little tweaking here and there. There are enough "Mystics" around so that average price is actually fairly close. The price is also based on the notion "I want it now". Obviously, if you are a patient buyer, you can get stamps for pennies on the dollar (sometimes, even for a penny Big Grin )

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khj

06 Jul 2015
10:27:56am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Michael#####'s posted while I was typing. I agree with him.

I will add, in my opinion, the true value of a stamp is better defined by the dealer buy price, not the average selling price of a stamp. As far as I'm concerned, the true value of the stamp should not incorporate labor costs or profit, but that's exactly what catalog prices do include. It's not a beef with the catalogs. I'm just saying I look at the financial value of the stamp differently. The catalogs are trying to state retail value, rather than what the stamp is actually worth monetarily.

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michael78651

06 Jul 2015
10:42:58am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Yes, but you are looking for that stamp in a condition higher than what Scott values, so you should expect to pay more for it. The condition, and ensuing demand for the stamp in superior condition, makes it a high-end stamp.

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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
12:15:26pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

All thoughtful responses, thanks.

Kim said:

"The catalogs are trying to state retail value"



This was what I was wondering about; if the catalogs are stating retail value, albeit based on a select group of dealers and auction houses, if the dealers are not paying "full CV" for stamps (which is more than likely the case), then why don't we see CV decreasing?

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"TO ERR IS HUMAN; TO FORGIVE, CANINE."
michael78651

06 Jul 2015
12:30:56pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Catalog values are not based on dealer buying prices. They are loosely based on retail sales.

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khj

06 Jul 2015
12:47:33pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Michael#####'s stated the key point. It's a retail price catalog, not a stamp value catalog, despite what they keep saying about increase/decrease in stamp values.

Full time dealers know how much it's really worth, and that's reflected in their buy price. So for general stamp collections, they typically offer 5%-10% of estimated catalog value. To me, that gives you an idea of how much the stamps are REALLY worth, rather than how much a full-time dealer thinks he can profit off the stamps.

That's a generalized statement. There are plenty of exceptions, whether specific stamps (the rarer or higher demand stamps) or specific areas (1950s-1980s PRC for example).

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rrraphy

Retired Consultant APS#186030
06 Jul 2015
02:43:42pm

Approvals

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Agree in general, except I strongly believe that the catalog price changes, year to year, are 100% made up, run by a software subroutine and some smart human tinkering to mask it. They are instituted only to induce more catalog sales of the newer (and relatively worthless catalogs...I say worthless because no one seems to collect the more recent stamps, except for one or a few countries...and for those, prices and facial values are identical (using latest exchange rates).
I look at refreshing my catalogs once every 5 years..it is good enough. What would really make sense is adding a new catalog yearly of the stamps issued in the latest period, and leave the base prices of older stamps unchanged for a bunch (5-10) years...but no catalog company will do that, until they are run out of business!
I once ran an analysis of prices over a 5 year time span (of Europa stamps, from Scott) by year, by cat #, and one can discern a clear pattern of how prices are manipulated and changed year by year. The subroutine is purposely complex to mask the fact that it is all computer generated. Occasionally they will re assess some countries or time era, but generally the price changes are worthless. (or as the kinder souls here would say, just a reference). To decide what you should probably pay for a stamp, just use any catalog, 5 years or earlier, and roughly cut listed Prices to 20 or 25% of their listed value. Also, do comparative shopping on bidstart or ebay, and voila.

For the more valuable and rarer stamps that actually increase in value, today's market only warrants purchases of stamps properly certified and guaranteed. It is a shame that so many are suckered on ebay to think they are finding rock bottom bargains, when they are really buying nothing more than "green stamps".
rrr...

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"E. Rutherford: All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
michael78651

06 Jul 2015
03:49:14pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

Ralph, I think most of what you said is correct. I would just like to offer a little different take on a few of your points, and provide some of my findings that serve to support what you said.

There are people who collect the newer issues. Let's use Scott's definition of stamps issued after 1990. From what I have seen, more people are moving to the newer issues, because their collections have the earlier stamps that they can afford. Topicalists are big collectors of newer issues as well. It is not easy to find newer issues for most countries, The print quantities are very low, and postal administrations around the world are cutting back further on print volumes. A small, but growing demand for newer issues, coupled with low print volumes is driving the values up on newer issues. Of that I have little to no doubt.

Gibbons tends to not issue annual catalogs on many areas. They will wait until there are enough value changes and new issues (if not a dead collecting area) to warrant publication of a new volume. That way they ensure that people will buy them as opposed to simply putting out annual editions.

I agree with you 100%, and I believe that Scott rotates reviews of certain popular countries in order to proclaim with release of an annual catalog set that values were updated for a certain area. Part of the reason for this is that they don't have catalog editors like they used to, but also they have to justify publishing an annual catalog set and try to get people to buy them each year. At least Scott does issue a press release that states what has changed in each volume as it is released. Makes it easier to decide if the changes are worth the cost of buying a new set. Notice how many years it took Scott to complete the renumbering of the Portuguese Colonies Ceres issue. The 2015 edition was the last year for this.

Other than that, when I am updating my inventory spreadsheets I find quite often countries where values are increased or decreased mostly by a certain percentage. Also, Scott will say that they did a review of a certain country, then I find value changes galore up to a certain year, and then no more changes. Or, I'll find value changes throughout the postage section, but nothing in back-of-book. I n the next edition of the catalog, the value changes are often found to continue for those countries where the previous edition left off.

It has been suggested for years that Scott go to loose-leaf with its catalogs so that each year it can issue a supplement pack for each volume that updates pages with value changes, and adds new pages for the new issues. That would be nice, but I wonder how much they would charge.


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cocollectibles

06 Jul 2015
03:58:09pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

"It has been suggested for years that Scott go to loose-leaf with its catalogs so that each year it can issue a supplement pack for each volume that updates pages with value changes, and adds new pages for the new issues."



Scott should just jump into the late 20th Century (let alone the 21st) and go digital. Annual thick catalogues are not only a waste of money, but also a waste of resources.


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philb

06 Jul 2015
09:19:26pm

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re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

in 2005 one of our club members purchased the scott catalogs on disk and his wife bootlegged copies for all the members...they were not that popular(even for free) i prefer the paper edition but i don't believe i am going to purchase year sets of 6 anymore..like in my poorer days i will probably buy one book a year or so !

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"And every hair is measured like every grain of sand"
michael78651

06 Jul 2015
09:28:53pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

You can save alot of money if you purchase a set that is out of date. Generally the set prices drop by as much as 50% for each year that the catalog set is out of date.

After the entire 2016 six volume set is released later this year, the price of the 2015 set should drop to around $300. The 2014 should drop to $150 to $200, and 2013 even lower than that. It's a good way to save money and update your catalogs if catalog value is secondary to identifying stamps.

Even if you're a seller, the 2015 catalog values are still in line with the 2016 for the most part, and so are the 2013 and 2014 catalog sets. Just read the Scott press releases for each of the 2016 volumes to find out where the major changes are in the 2016 catalogs compared to the 2015. If you want to know the changes between the 2013 and 2015, just check out my analysis of the 2015 catalogs.

With the price of the catalogs, and the lack of significant changes in values, it is getting so that it is only necessary to obtain a new catalog set every three years.

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philb

06 Jul 2015
10:21:35pm

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re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

My 2012 scotts still work for me...i do not see myself jumping to 2015 at this point ! The number of Scott catalogs published each year must be a bigger secret than the Coca Cola receipe !

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"And every hair is measured like every grain of sand"
pre1940classics

06 Jul 2015
10:36:29pm

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

If you shop around, you can get many used stamps below 30% catalog, many of which are in fine to very fine condition. This is normal strategy. I only pay more if is an item I really want, such as to finish a set, or upgrade to a MNH copy which is VF or better. I still get most of the 25 cent items for under 10% catalog.

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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
07 Jul 2015
03:34:46am

re: Scott Catalogue value increases and sold prices: Relationship?

" ... So what do you think is the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? ...."
I was sitting on my porch the other afternoon and saw an example of the "relationship between Scott CV and sold prices? " on the horizon.
To the East there were several enormous darkening thunderclouds being formed over Central Florida by the heat baking the asphalt streets of Orlando and the concrete and cobblestone walkways of Disney World rising and colliding with the cooler breezes drifting inland from the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico (Pronounced "Golf of Mexico" by native crackers) on the other side. Turning to the west there were rows of fluffy white Cumulus clouds out over the water drifting harmlessly away.
Between the two cloud formations I discovered " ...the REAL relationship between Scott CV and sold prices ..."

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
        

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